LRT2 Gilmore Station's catenary wire hit by lightning

Lightning hit the catenary wire of the Gilmore Station of the Light Rail Transit Line 2 (LRT2) on Sunday evening amid heavy rains due to the Southwest Monsoon (Habagat).

The management of Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA), operator of the LRT2, said repair work could not be done immediately after the first strike as more lightning followed, according to a report by James Agustin on Unang Balita on Monday.

The CCTV camera of LRTA was able to record the moment when lightning struck the catenary wire which supplies electricity to the trains.

LRTA administrator Atty. Hernando Cabrera told Unang Balita the lightning hit at 9:44 p.m, and only the Gilmore Station was struck.

"'Yung nasirang kable around mga 70 meters kaya natagalan tayong mag-repair, plus nu'ng umpisa may mga kidlat pa," Cabrera said.

(The damaged cable ran to around 70 meters so it took a while for us to do repair, plus there were still lightning early on.)

The LRTA maintenance team worked overnight to do repair work and testing. They finished repair work at 3:30 a.m., Cabrera said.

Cabrera added they initially issued an advisory that the start of train operations on Monday may be delayed due to the incident.

However, the team was able to finish their repair work including testing before sunrise, enabling the resumption of LRT2's normal train schedule of 5 a.m. on Monday.

Passengers were relieved that LRT2 trains were running as scheduled on Monday, although stations opened a few minutes later than usual. —KG, GMA Integrated News